Agilent Expands Materials Science Business
The Nano Instruments business was founded in 1983 and is located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. MTS Systems acquired the company in 1998. The majority of MTS’s instrument business serves the automotive market and thus is not focused on nano techniques. Nanotechnology is a target market for Agilent’s Materials Science Solution Unit, making for a more suitable fit.
Santa Clara, CA 6/30/08—Agilent Technologies has acquired MTS Systems’ Nano Instruments business unit. Financial terms were not disclosed. The Nano Instruments business unit provides nanoindentation systems and related equipment for imaging, characterizing and quantifying nanomechanical material properties. “With Agilent’s robust sales channel and global infrastructure, we anticipate growing the Nano Instruments business and offering a more complete nanomeasurement product portfolio to our customers worldwide,” said Bob Burns, vice president of Agilent’s Nanotechnology Measurements Division, part of Agilent’s Materials Science Solutions Unit. Agilent stated that nanoindentation is an adjacent market to atomic force microscopy, a product line that Agilent also offers.
